Promoting confidence and connections

At the Pro-Am of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in June. From left: Joe Kernen (co-anchor of CNBC’s “Squawk Box”), LPGA star Michelle Wie, NBC “Today” show’s Matt Lauer, and Lynne Doughtie.

At the Pro-Am of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in June. From left: Joe Kernen (co-anchor of CNBC’s “Squawk Box”), LPGA star Michelle Wie, NBC “Today” show’s Matt Lauer, and Lynne Doughtie.

Confidence and connections, Lynne Doughtie says, can play important roles in women’s advancement to senior leadership roles.

The KPMG Women’s Leadership Study, she says, surveyed 3,000 professional working women and college women. “The majority of professional working women said they aspire to be a senior leader of an organization or serve on a board. But less than half see themselves as leaders. We also found that large numbers of women do not feel confident asking for a mentor or sponsor.”

Mentors matter

To help ensure that its high-performing women have the mentors, sponsors, and development they need to advance in their careers, KPMG established the Women’s Advisory Board.

Made up of the firm’s most senior women, the board seeks to “create a more compelling work environment and enhance career opportunities for our women by driving national and local initiatives that support, advance, retain, and reward them,” she says. One of its biggest successes has been the establishment of the KPMG Network of Women, which now has more than 60 local chapters.


Virginia Tech Pamplin College of Business Virginia Tech Pamplin College of Business Magazine Fall 2015

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